34695: Is tahaarah a prerequisite for tawaaf and saa’i?

During tawaaf when doing ‘Umrah I broke my wudoo’, and I did not know what to do, so I went out and did wudoo’, then I repeated tawaaf and did saa’i between al-Safa and al-Marwah. Is what I did correct? What should I have done?.

Praise be to Allaah.

You did well by renewing your wudoo’ and repeating your
tawaaf. You did that which is better and more on the safe side. The majority
of scholars are of the view that tahaarah (being pure, i.e., having wudoo’)
is an essential condition of tawaaf, like prayer, being valid. Just as
prayer is not valid unless one has done wudoo’, so too tawaaf is not valid
without wudoo’.

Ibn Qudaamah said:

Tahaarah (being pure, having wudoo’) is a condition of tawaaf
being valid. This is the well-known view of Ahmad, and it is the view of
Maalik and al-Shaafa’i.

The majority of scholars quote several pieces of evidence to
support this view, such as the following:

1 – The Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “Tawaaf around the House is (a kind of) prayer, except that you
may speak during it.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 960; classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 121.

2 – It is proven in al-Saheehayn that ‘Aa’ishah (may
Allaah be pleased with her) said: “When he [the Prophet] (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) wanted to do tawaaf, he did wudoo’.” And he
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Learn from me your
rituals (of Hajj and ‘Umrah).” Narrated by Muslim, 1297.

Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz,
17/213-214.

3 – It was proven in al-Saheehayn that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to ‘Aa’ishah when her
menses came: “Do what the pilgrims do, but do not circumambulate the House
until you are pure [i.e., until your period ends].”

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: I
have a female relative who did ‘Umrah during Ramadaan and when she entered
the Haram she broke her wudoo’ by passing wind, but she felt too embarrassed
to tell her family that she wanted to do wudoo’. Then she did tawaaf and
when she finished tawaaf she went off by herself and did wudoo’, then she
did saa’i. Does she have to offer a sacrifice or any expiation (kafaarah)?

He replied:

Her tawaaf is not valid, because one of the conditions of
tawaaf being valid is tahaarah (purity), as in the case of prayer. So she
should go back to Makkah and circumambulate the House. It is also mustahabb
(recommended) for her to repeat saa’i, because most of the scholars are of
the view that it is not permissible to do saa’i before tawaaf. Then she
should cut some hair from all parts of her head and exit ihraam. If she has
a husband who had intercourse with her, then he has to slaughter a sheep in
Makkah to be distributed to the poor, and she has to do another ‘Umrah from
the meeqaat from which she entered ihraam for the first ‘umrah, because the
first ‘umrah was invalidated by that intercourse. She should do what we have
mentioned, then do another ‘Umrah from the meeqaat from which she entered
ihraam for the first ‘umrah, whether she does that now or at another time,
depending on her ability. And Allaah is the source of strength.

Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz,
17/214-215

He was also asked:

A man started to do
tawaaf, then he passed wind. Does he have to stop his tawaaf or should he
continue?

He replied: If a person passes wind or urine or semen, or he
touches his private part, etc. during tawaaf, then he should stop his
tawaaf, as (he is required to do if any of these things happen) in the case
of prayer. He should go and purify himself, then start tawaaf again. This is
the correct view; there is a difference of scholarly opinion concerning this
matter, but this is the correct view concerning both prayer and tawaaf,
because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“If one of you breaks wind silently during prayer, let him go and do wudoo’
then repeat the prayer.” Narrated by Abu Dawood and classed as saheeh by Ibn
Khuzaymah. Tawaaf comes under the same heading as prayer in general…

Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz,
17/216-217

Some of the scholars are
of the view that purity from hadath (minor impurity) is not essential for
tawaaf. This is the view of Abu Haneefah (may Allaah have mercy on him) and
was the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah. They responded to the
evidence quoted in support of the first view in the following manner:

With regard to the hadeeth: “Tawaaf around the House is (a
kind of) prayer”, they said that this is not a saheeh report from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), rather these are
the words of Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him). Al-Nawawi said in
al-Majmoo’: The correct view is that this is a mawqoof report which
stops at Ibn ‘Abbaas. This was mentioned by al-Bayhaqi and other scholars of
hadeeth.

With regard to the actions of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his doing tawaaf in a state of tahaarah
(purity), they said: This does not indicate that it is obligatory, rather it
only indicates that it is mustahabb (recommended), because the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did that, but it is not reported
that he commanded his companions to do that.

With regard to the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) saying to ‘Aa’ishah: “Do what the pilgrims do, but do
not circumambulate the House until you are pure [i.e., until your period
ends],” the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told
her not to do tawaaf because she was menstruating, and the menstruating
women is forbidden to enter the mosque.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said:

Those who say that it is obligatory to have wudoo’ in order
to do tawaaf have no proof at all, because no one narrated, with either a
saheeh isnaad or a da’eef one, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) enjoined having wudoo’ in order to do tawaaf. It should
be noted that very many people did Hajj with him, and he did ‘Umrah numerous
times and the people did ‘Umrah with him. If wudoo’ were obligatory for
tawaaf, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would
have pointed that out to everyone, and if he had stated that, then the
Muslims would have transmitted it from him and would not have been negligent
concerning that. But it is proven in al-Saheeh that when he did
tawaaf he did wudoo’. This on its own does not indicate that it is
obligatory, for he used to do wudoo’ for each prayer and he said: “I do not
like to remember Allaah except in a state of purity.”

Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 21/273.

Even though this view –that tahaarah is not an essential
condition for tawaaf – has some strength and the evidence may be interpreted
in this manner, people should not start tawaaf without being in a state of
purity, because it is undoubtedly better to do tawaaf in a state of purity;
that is more on the safe side and by doing that one will avoid going against
the view of the majority of scholars.

But a person may do that if it is too difficult to keep or
repeat one's wudoo’, such as during the days of Hajj, or if a person is sick
or elderly and it is hard to keep his wudoo’ as well as deal with the crowds
and so on.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said,
after responding to the evidence quoted by the majority:

Based on this, the more correct view which gives peace of
mind is that it is not essential to be pure from minor impurity (i.e., have
wudoo’) in order to do tawaaf, but it is undoubtedly better and is following
the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
and no one should neglect purity and go against the majority of scholars in
this matter. But sometimes one is compelled to follow the view of Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, such as if a person breaks his wudoo’ when there is
too much crowding, in which case the view that he has to go and do wudoo’
and come back in this severe crowding, especially when he only has a few
circuits left, will cause too much hardship. With regard to matters which
cause too much hardship and regarding which there is no clear text, we
should not force people to adhere to them, rather we should follow that
which is more lenient, because forcing people do things that are too hard
with no clear proof contradicts what Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“Allaah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make
things difficult for you”

[al-Baqarah 2:185]

al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 7/300

With regard to saa’i, it
is not essential to have wudoo’ for saa’i. This is the view of the four
Imams, Abu Haneefah, Maalik, al-Shaafa’i and Ahmad. Indeed it is permissible
for menstruating women to perform saa’i between al-Safa and al-Marwah,
because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) only
told menstruating women not to do tawaaf, as he said to ‘Aa’ishah (may
Allaah be pleased with her), when her menses came: “Do what the pilgrims do,
but do not circumambulate the House.”

See al-Mughni, 5/246

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:

If a person does saa’i when he does not have wudoo’, or when he is junub [in a state of impurity following sexual activity], or if a woman does saa’i when she is menstruating, then this is valid, but it is better to do saa’i in a state of tahaarah.